Cause and Effect: Mr. Bennet and the fate of his Daughters

Mr. Bennet, who is portrayed in Pride and Prejudice as being irresponsible, reminds me of Bronson Alcott, Louisa May Alcott’s father. Bennet is a likable and gregarious character and, like Alcott, he enjoys books, which suggests that he may have a life of the mind. And yet his imprudence as a husband and father has put his daughters in a precarious situation, through no fault of their own. The narrator describes the nature of his marriage: 

Her father, captivated by youth and beauty, and that appearance of good humor, which youth and beauty generally give, had married a woman whose weak understanding and illiberal mind, had very early in their marriage put an end to all real affection for her. Respect, esteem, and confidence, had vanished forever; and all his views of domestic happiness were overthrown. (155)

Bennet’s judgment in choosing a wife, made during the flush of youth, was based upon appearance, not substance. He did not complain about his situation, which he understood was the result of his own poor judgment; he was culpable for his actions and attempted to make the best of it by poking fun of his wife whenever he could: “To his wife he was very little otherwise indebted, than as her ignorance and folly had contributed to his amusement” (155). There was no love in this marriage. The Bennet’s were going through the motions of nuptials, but they were spiritually and psychologically alienated from one another for the remainder of their lives. 

The humor that Mr. Bennet derived from his wife’s lack of decorum and folly, however, had serious implications for his daughters. Bennet’s insouciant attitude had placed the economic survival of his daughters in jeopardy, and he did little to correct his deficiencies: 

But she had never felt so strongly as now, the disadvantages which must attend the children of so unsuitable a marriage, nor ever been so fully aware of the evils arising from so ill-judged a direction of talents; talents which rightly used, might at least have preserved the respectability of his daughters, even if incapable of enlarging the mind of his wife. (155) 

Although the relationship between Mr. Bennet and his daughters seems affable enough, “the evils arising from so ill-judged direction of talents” is suggestive of Elizabeth’s deep anger and resentment for him. Evil is a strong word. Of course, the reader must try to view these events through the lens of the time period in which the novel was written.